* We’ve got 90 minutes of football and anything can happen at the Bernabeu
Maravi Express
“One place where crazy things happen is our house”, midfielder Jude Bellingham warns Arsenal after his Real Madrid were beaten 3-0 by the Gunners in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final ahead of the second leg on Wednesday, April 16 at Santiago Bernabeu.
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Madrid’s loss yesterday was the club’s joint-heaviest defeat in a Champions League knockout match and after the full-time whistle Bellingham said his side were “nowhere near it”.
Even so, the England midfielder believes Real are “still alive” in the Champions League — a competition where they have a history of dramatic comebacks.
“We need something really special, something crazy really,” Bellingham told Amazon Prime. “We’ve got 90 minutes of football and anything can happen at the Bernabeu.”
Declan Rice’s two fantastic free kicks and a striker’s finish from Mikel Merino gave Arsenal the emphatic victory at the Emirates Stadium in which the hosts had the better of the first half as Real began slowly, though they were indebted to Thibault Courtois’ superb double-save on the stroke of halftime to keep the game level.
However, Rice broke the deadlock in the 58th minute with his first senior goal from a direct freekick, an unstoppable shot around the wall and beyond Courtois, before he followed it up with an even better strike 12 minutes later.
Merino then coolly fired into the bottom corner 15 minutes from time, to give Arsenal a sizeable lead to take to Madrid next week. Real were reduced to 10 men late on when Eduardo Camavinga was shown a second yellow card.
When asked by Amazon Prime about scoring the free kicks, Declan Rice revealed that Bukayo Saka gave him a piece of advice just as he was to take the first free kick, saying: “I’ve hit the wall too many times or it’s gone over the bar. Originally, we were going to cross it and then I’ve just seen the wall and the goalkeeper’s position.
“So I thought just go for it. And Bukayo said to just feel it. The second one I had the confidence. I hit it.”
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Meanwhile, England are guaranteed a minimum of five teams in the Champions League next season after Arsenal’s victory over Real Madrid in the first leg of the quarter-finals.
One win, in any of the three European competitions, would have secured the fifth place for England. Two extra spots are awarded to countries based on their ranking in UEFA’s coefficient table.
Liverpool and Arsenal look set to finish in the top in the Premier League, with Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, Newcastle, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Brighton and Bournemouth, who sit 10th, all separated by 12 points.
England could have as many as seven teams in the Champions League in 2025-26 if Aston Villa win the competition this year, but fail to qualify through the Premier League, and if Manchester United or Tottenham win the Europa League.
Italy are second in the coefficient rankings, with Spain and Germany behind.—Content by BBC Sport & The Standard; edited by Maravi Express
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